SPREADSHEET SUMMARY:

MY ACTUAL 1 PERSON BACKPAcking COSTS:

Cost Of Existence (COE):

My costs are purely provided for information purposes.

I do not always follow ‘GRANDPAcking Standards’. But, my costs are real costs and they may help you formulate your own budget.

My accommodation was to GRANDPAcking Standard. I found that, in an apartment 1km away from city centre with kitchen facilities, I bought groceries and ate most of my meals at home. This is below GRANDPAcking Standard.

Communications & Fees: I still had my TELCEL Package. I did not need a top up in Guanajuato.

Food & Drink:

I averaged MXP106 / day. But, you should totally ignore my figures.

In Guanajuato I continued the ‘Health Binge’ that I started in Ajijic … I mostly ate muesli, fruit, unsweatened natural yogurt, nuts, and other groceries purchased from the local Supermarket. This was washed down with anti-oxidant Cranberry Green Tea and Lemon Iced Tea laced with Tequila … I never said that I was perfect! 🙂

Even with the high cost of accommodation, my ‘Cost of Existing / Day’ was MXP480 / NZ$38 / US$26 / €24 / £21.

Cost Of LIVING (COL):

Visa: There is no Visa Apportionment. The 180 Day Visitor’s Visa is free.

Getting There: It cost me MXP526 to get from Ajijic to Guanajuato. This consisted of a bus to Guadalajara, an UBER Taxi, a Primera Plus long distance Bus, and a local bus in Guanajuato.

Drink / Partying: A 350ml bottle of Corona costs MXP30 almost everywhere. However, I am trying the local Tequila with sugar-free Iced Tea (you should try it … I discovered it in The Philippines, it is actually very nice). I averaged MXP31 / night on drinks.

Personal: None

Entertainment / Trips: None.

Shopping: It rained every day … I bought a travel umbrella.

Other / Gifts: None.

My actual GRANDPAcking costs came in at MXP592 / NZ$47 / US$31 / €30 / £26 per day. This was 59% of my total budget … I still had 41% left to play with.

WHAT IT SHOULD COST 2 BACKPAckers:

To afford to take a GRANDPAcking ‘Holiday’ to Guanajuato, you will need to drop your GRANDPAcking standards and choose where to stay very carefully. There isn’t much around online within the GRANDPAcker price range. You will be BACKPAcking.

I suggest that you start looking for hotel ‘specials’ online (with someone like AGODA or BOOKING) well in advance and compare them with the Holiday Rentals found on TRIPADVISOR. Then, you can pick the best deal for you.

I strongly advise that you stay in the very centre of town … not 1km away on the other side of a hill (like I did) … and not up 100s of steps … I mean right in the centre! Make sure that you know exactly where your chosen accommodation is – and ask if it is up any steps!

Cost Of Existence (COE):

Accommodation: In Mexico, it is hard to find a decent ‘GRANDPAcking Standard’ Double Fan Room with Ensuite online for less than MXP500 / night. Under MXP500 you are usually looking at below standard rooms in Hostels and / or rooms with Shared Bathrooms.

If you come to Guanajuato, you will be living BELOW GRANDPAcking Standard. You are coming for a holiday … with your accommodation, you will need to ‘bite the bullet’.

I have budgeted for you to spend the first 3 nights in a simple Double Room with a Shared Bathroom in a Hostel at MXP600 / night. This gets you into the city centre.

The 3 nights should be enough for you to find GRANDPAcking Standard accommodation after negotiating a long term 27 day discount for the rest of the month. MXP650 / night long term should be enough to get you what you need.

Target rooms in the MXP800-900 / night range and make them an offer of MXP650.

You could do what I did and stay in a Vacation Rental for under MXP500 / night but it will not be in the centre of town … and you will miss out on Guanajuato (like I did)!

Transport: You do not need transport. I have budgeted for you to take a Day Trip out of town each week on a local bus.

Communications: I have included a prepaid 1 Month TELCEL ‘unlimited’ calls & texts MXP150 Package with 400MBs of data.

Food: You will not get breakfast included with your accommodation. Target a cheap breakfast in your favourite local cafe. Do the same for Lunch. For Dinner, I have budgeted for you to have something from the lower quartile of the menu in a budget restaurant (or something in an Eaterie down at the Hidalgo Market). The budget that I have provided is enough for you to NOT have to eat Tacos every meal.

The ‘Cost Of Existence’ of 2 GRANDPAckers is about MXP1,008 / NZ$80 / US$55 / €51 / £44 per day.

Cost Of LIVING:

This leaves you NOTHING to LIVE on (i.e. 0% of your GRANDPAcking budget).

You are coming to Guanajuato to ‘splash out’ on a holiday. You will need to ‘dig deeper’ for spending money.

CONCLUSION:

Guanajuato is definitely worth a visit.

The problem is the fact that you almost HAVE TO be in the town centre with high costs of accommodation.

As a consequence, Guanajuato has NOT made it into my GRANDPAcking Retirement REVIEWS.

Come for a month and lap it up.

But don’t expect to stay here.

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